One Year After The Battle

Alonzo Stringham Troop I, 7th US cavalry witnesses the re-burying of the Custer dead.

I saw the Custer battlefield when my Troop I, 7th US Cavalry was sent to re-bury those who fell with General Custer on that fatal day in June 1876.

We arrived on that sacred ground just one year lacking three days of the first annual anniversary of the fight.

Coming at the Little Big Horn we entered the Indian village (or what had been the village) on the west side of the river. The teepee poles were in many instances still standing just about as they had been left by the Indians in their haste to get away from the scene of death.

Marching on up from where we first entered the village perhaps a mile or so, we came to the place where Custer had hoped to cross to the east side. But the Indians met him in such force that his five troops depleted as they were necessitated a retreat to higher ground.

In making this forced retreat the evidence we found showed that no retreat could have been made in a more orderly manner or better planned and executed.

About three hundred yards from the river he threw out one Troop deployed as skirmishers each troop here we found had fought till death in an unbroken line every man in his place the Captains and Lieutenants Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates.

Advancing another 300 or 400 yards we found Troop I had been deployed under brave Captain Keogh they all died in their respective places, as had the first line of skirmishers.

Again further up the sloping hillside another Troop was thrown forward into a skirmish line as had the two preceding ones and had died every man in his place.

General Custer now had but two Troops and his staff officers left from where the third troop had fallen on up to the summit of the hill the dead were strewn so that he and a part of his staff were only a pitifully few men perhaps 30 or 40 men in all reached the crest there in a sort of a basin they stood and contended until the last man which the Indians say was the yellow haired Chief Custer yielded up his life.

In the meantime where was Reno and Benteen after leaving the Custer battlefield we went back to the ford and re-crossed into what had been the village and preceded on up the valley to where we came to the patch of timber where Reno had met too many Indians for his little force to longer contend against so he gave orders to mount and charge to the high hills across on the east side He lost 65 men during his engagement in the timber and along the three quarters of a mile to the river and three more while crossing the stream and climbing the bluff.

When he reached the summit and using some dead horses as breast works he rallied his forces and held his ground until reinforced by Benteen and two additional troops.

It is estimated that over 10,000 Indians took part in battles that day and that there were fully as many contending against Reno and Benteen as there were engaged with Custer's division

At the time of which I am writing one year after the battle there was many evidences as yet remaining and scattered over the fields of the fierceness of the engagement and the undoubted heroism of the various troops of my own regiment and its division commanders Benteen and Reno who certainly deserve credit for having saved a considerable part of their commands from the complete annihilate which became the fate of the division led by the fearless commander General Custer.